When Egos Collide
by unamuerte
Summary: Han and Leia discover something surprising on a dead planet. Of course, with Jabba's bounty still on Han's head, will he stay with Leia and risk her safety, or walk away to protect what he loves most? A bit of Lando/Han rivalry thrown in. Set in ESB. Read
1. The Spark

**_Disclaimer:_** _Nothing star wars is mine etc etc etc. _

_**A/N: **This was a fanfic I attempted three years ago but never finished. I'll upload more if you like it!_

Han looked at Leia, her rage contrasting against the softness of her white uniform and hair. 'I'm sorry if you _feel_ that way, your worship.'

Struggling to suppress her fury, the princess turned coolly on her heel and attempted to walk away.

His voice followed her down the corridor, irresistibly baiting the prey. 'It's not my fault you can't resist the old Correlian charm.'

'Charm?' She spat out the question like distasteful liquor. Again, her inner Alderannean decorum was defeated by her desire to strangle this man.

'Enough to have Jabba chasing after you, but that's all.' She found her voice bellowing back. 'Not to mention the walking carpet.'

'Hey, sister!' His voice took on a mock-wounded tone as he closed the distance between them. 'Now you're getting personal.' He towered over her.

Leia drew herself up to her full height and glared disdainfully. 'You would know all about that, wouldn't you? Being _Mr Sensitive?_' He opened his mouth to reply but her words tumbled out in a violent storm. 'I heard how you addressed me to Luke.'

He grinned sheepishly, taking a more level stance. 'You have to admit your highness you can be a handful –'

She overrode him. _'Ice Princess?_' He was sure he could detect a note of disappointment in her voice.

'I'd stop calling you that if only you'd _warm up_ to me a little.' He was now close enough to take in the scent of her hair, the angry passion her eyes dissolving every passing moment he drew closer. He could almost feel the burning of her cheek against his, the touch of her lips –

when she turned away, embarrassed, casting her eyes anywhere but on him.

Leia managed to save herself with a scathing reply. 'When all hell freezes over.'

He felt the old irritation well inside him as he watched her make for the falcon's exit. Suddenly he found himself at a loss for a comeback. 'You're leaving the ship?'

Her voice carried from just outside the ship, it was impossible to miss the seething sarcasm. 'I'm sure you'll have the ladies enthralled with this bucket of bolts.'

He sighed as he slipped on an oxygen mask to combat the alien territory, swiping another for the impossible woman outside. 'Chewie, I'm out hunting for _hostile wildlife_. I'll inform you on the commlink if anything goes wrong.'

* * *


	2. Out in the Cold

It was cold, and dark by the time Leia's mood subsided and she decided to head back. The planet's moon had risen, a dusky pink on the horizon, the only beacon of warmth amidst the barren chill of its sandy, deserted surface. She shivered as she fingered the thin material of her sleeves and vest. She had been too angry stalking out to consider practicalities, an oxygen mask even. A sudden thought occurred to her. What if the air had some strange, undiscovered disease…what if the environment was not deserted at all, but harboured a myriad of hungry, nocturnal creatures?

_Stop it_, she scolded herself firmly. Imaginations are of no use to anyone in a crisis, unless it happens to distract them from their unhappy situation. Suddenly she thought of Han…and that still, almost unending moment onboard the Falcon, when he'd looked at her in a manner quite unlike she'd seen before.

The roguish expression had changed…and he had regarded her with…what? _Passion…longing…desire?_

She shook her head derisively, but it made her consider her own feelings. Did she regard him as more than a…well, he _certainly_ wasn't her _friend_

In fact, the moment he had bent in to…_what?_ Leia wouldn't allow herself the thought that he had tried to kiss her. He had _leered _at her, _teased _her, _insulted _her, _toyed _with her emotions. Leia didn't think it was possible for that sort of man to be attracted by her, much less a person like herself find _him _attractive.

_Yes_, Leia nodded firmly, that moment was the only flickering truce they had experienced this whole trip.

She wondered now what to do…Han…._Captain Solo…_was probably impatient to leave the planet, annoyed he'd lost the rebel's best ally. But she certainly could not walk back in there in this mind frame. Her emotions would be written all over face…and he would sit there gloating, basking in his own festering ego. Her thoughts shifted dramatically. And then there was her pride. She would not act like some swooning prize for him to add to his own egocentric collection of conquests. Leia knew _some _women might falter before his pirate charm. Not _she. _

Her gaze scanned the almost abyssal night, and tried to ignore the possibility of attack. They had come here for refurbishment and supplies, and that was exactly what she was going to find.

* * *

Han tried the commlink a dozen times, but there was no response. 'Stubborn woman.'

Unless, of course, considering her mood, she had forgotten to take that too. He checked the oxygen indictor level on the mask, slightly below average, but enough to discard the proxy experience. He tore of the protective cover, and breathed in cool, fresh air. Lucky for Leia, it wasn't poisoned.

Suddenly something forbidden entered his head. Han liked to be in control of his thoughts, and he certainly didn't like _this. _Her face, _her Worship's face,_ had invaded his mind. That face wasn't one that recognised beauty, much less recognised her own beauty. But Han knew beauty.

He had spent the best years of his youth coveting it, chasing after it, _seducing _it. He had studied the faces of a myriad of women across the galaxy on his travels. The _intimate _kind of study. Indeed, Leia's face was not the stunning, mind-blowing beauty that Han and his plumped ego had come to expect in a woman. It wasn't the exotic that entranced him now. It was _fire. _Leia was a strange object. The ice on the surface was a mask, Han knew. She was no more made of ice than he was. Underneath the frost, Han saw the fire burning, flames and fire like the suns, sending out their solar winds to blow any other life away.

Han shook his head. _What was wrong with him? _Thinking of stars and suns and fire, _out here _of all places. Instead, his mind turned to more practical things. The terrain. Han scanned it.

He considered her alone out there, wandering across a foreign planet's deserted landscape. As Han walked, he couldn't help but feel partly responsible. Perhaps he shouldn't have made a move on her, but it was near i_mpossible_. It wasn't that she was the only woman with in nearest radius. It was the _fire_ he longed to fuel. That radiance, however ugly it got when she was near him, to Han contained enough heat to supernova a distant star.

Besides, needling her was the only way she would respond. His temper grew when he remembered her kissing Luke, when the kid had hardly paid attention to her. _I'm the one who always talks to her, makes her act a little more human _–

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a distant howl. His body geared into action, with the realisation that Leia was probably not the only hostile creature on the planet.

* * *


	3. The Rescue

* * *

Leia felt the sweeping, the disturbance of the desert, before she heard the noise.

She tried walking fifty paces each direction, calling out for response, before realising it safer to keep her whereabouts hidden. Whatever intelligent life, if any, inhabited this planet, it wasn't on the surface. Despite her growing fear, she had no illusions about being rescued. Han would most likely lock up the ship overnight to teach her a lesson, and wait till morning to conduct a search.

Slowly, she tried extending her numbed joints as the temperature grew colder. That was if she _survived _till morning. A howling noise swept up and she shuddered, until she realised it was the wind. She looked up at the moon, by now her only source of light, and concentrated on the sound. By now she bitterly regretted insulting the 'walking carpet.' She would have given _anything_ for that coat of fur at this exact moment.

* * *

The howling, which by now Han recognised to be the wind, was lifting. His long experience with the elements of foreign worlds, especially less favourable colonies, made him quickly aware a sand storm was on the move. The light provided by the commlink was bright enough to detect in such open desert, but he was unsure how long the power would last. He needed to find the Princess now.

He tested his voice against the wind. 'Your worship!'

Not surprisingly, there was no response. Han briefly wondered if she was being silent simply to spite him, but at the same time reflected on how ridiculous the name must sound to her. He had never said her proper name in her presence before. His footsteps hastened as the wind grew in strength.

* * *

'Han?'

The word sounded strange on her tongue, more so when she shouted. She hated the idea of relying on him, when her reason being here was her stance against him, but a small part of her wished he would come. She did not want to freeze out here. The strength of the wind indicated a weather change, possibly a storm. She could not perish here, not when so many needed her, relied on her strength. She could not abandon the rebellion for a moment's folly. She had to get back, and continued walking, despite the fact that she was entirely lost.

A voice disturbed her concentration as the wind blew around her clothes and unravelling hair.

'_Leia!__'_

Never had she thought she would delight in the sound of her own name. She looked up, and spotted the fire-fly illumination of Han's commlink. She did not answer him, but ran towards the light.

He was about to draw her into an embrace, when she pulled away, remembering their fight.

'I thought I was going to freeze.'

'We both will if we don't get back to the ship,' he replied more than a little gruffly. _Why was it she always misinterpreted his intentions?_

* * *


	4. Stuck in a Storm

* * *

They walked side by side across the endless passage black sand and blowing storm.

After a time, however, it became obvious Han, too, was struggling to find his way. Leia decided to confirm her fears.

'Any minute now, huh?' She managed to keep her voice composed.

'That's right!' he snarled.

Suddenly Leia rounded on him, struggling to be heard over the storm. 'You have no idea where we're heading, do you? You couldn't have tied something to the ship? A cord, a rope to the ship to guide us? I'll bet that brain wave never occurred.'

Han clenched his fists. 'There wasn't any.' The Princess muttered something in reply. He shone the light of the commlink on her cold, furious face. 'What was that?'

'I said 'trust me to be rescued by a pirate.' Suddenly her face brightened, and she leaned in towards his face.

Han looked down at her optimistically, but his throat clenched when he realized she had pulled the commlink from his mouth and was attempting to make contact.

'Chewie, chewie, we're lost we need –'

Leia glared as Han tore the connection and dangled it in the air triumphantly. 'Nothing's on the other line, _Princess_, but _dead air_.' He handed it to her and she strained it against her ear. He shivered. 'Transmission must'a cut this far out.'

Not surprising, he found her glaring at him again. 'Thank you for that useful information, _Captain._ Perhaps I'd better find my own way home.'

She began to head off into the darkness with the light of the commlink spread before her.

He quickly matched her pace, and spun her round to face him. 'This is my rescue, I'm runnin' it. Now hand over the commlink.'

'Fine.' Again, they found themselves drawn together, their heads nearly touching, only this time Leia's breath was cold and short. She fought the close proximity.

'I don't need you –'

Suddenly, her voice was drowned out by the battering whirl of the wind and sand. The storm had blown right over them. _Great, _Hand thought drily, _out of the pick of adoring women I could have been stuck with in a sandstorm right now, I get stuck with the she-devil. _A brief, twisted grin crossed Han's face. '_Course, this _could_ get interesting. _

* * *


End file.
